Chapter 17: Reputation

  The snow grew larger, piece by piece, fluttering in the air, falling on a vast expanse of whiteness, dyeing the earth an even more desolate color...

  Tang An lay on the ground, where there was accumulated snow, stuck in his neck, with a bit of chill.

  His eyes stared blankly at the increasingly blurred surroundings. He saw someone rushing towards him, lifting him up, and prying open his eyelids with their hands, shouting loudly at him.

  "What is he shouting? He's so close to me, but I can't hear anything?" Tang An slowly turned his head to one side, and another thought occurred to him - he wanted to see where Wang Feng was. He wanted to confirm whether he had really won or not.

  When he saw Wang Feng fall outside the ring, his heart finally put down all its burdens. But seeing Wang Feng smile so triumphantly, Tang An's heart was inexplicably weird.

  "I won, why is he smiling so happily?"

  Tang An didn't continue thinking about it, because his chest suddenly transmitted a dull and stuffy feeling. It was scorching hot, just like being exposed to the blazing sunlight on a summer day, only feeling an unbearable oppression!

  He stroked his chest, where he had indeed been kicked by Wang Feng's last leg, but now this feeling was not the kind that came from being hit hard. His chest felt stuffy, as if... as if the blood in his chest was about to congeal.

  Tang An's face suddenly flushed with a morbid crimson, and his whole body was burning with fever.

  Since cultivating internal energy, Tang An had never fallen ill again, and naturally wouldn't have a fever. Now this situation was really too strange, he felt miserable to death, only thinking about raising his internal energy and circulating it.

  But he was in luck, and suddenly discovered that his dantian was empty, and there was nothing left!

  "What's happened to my inner energy? Where has my inner energy gone?"

  Tang An's heart skipped a beat as he suddenly realized something was wrong.

  "Wang Feng, that's right! The moment I threw him out, a glint of cold light seemed to suddenly appear in his sleeve. There must be something fishy!"

  Tang An's heart was racing, he suddenly struggled to get up, frantically tearing open his clothes and looking at his chest. On his chest, there was a small amount of blood left from the needle prick, but around it was a circle of dark color, obviously poisoned!

  Tang An saw this black piece and suddenly understood everything. He looked at Wang Feng laughing wildly below, his crazy laughter making him unable to stand straight... A towering rage surged up in his heart!

  He gritted his teeth, wanting to struggle and get up. In his heart, there was only one thought: "I want to kill him! I want to kill him!"

  But he couldn't get up no matter how hard he tried... He was so anxious that a mouthful of blood spurted out, and he fainted after his vision went black.

  …………

  Those two inner disciples who acted as judges had already seen the mark on Tang An's chest, and that silver needle fell beside Tang An.

  They suddenly realized what had just happened.

  One of the inner disciples was so angry that he wanted to rush up to Wang Feng and slap him a few times, but another one with quick eyes and hands saw that things were not going well and hurriedly stopped his brother's reckless behavior.

  "Are you crazy? What are you doing?"

  His junior brother's face turned red, his chest heaving constantly, clearly enraged: "I will clean up the door for Mount Shu! Our Mount Shu cannot tolerate a disciple like this!"

  Elder brother heard this, although also equally indignant in his heart, but the strength in his hand did not relax one bit: "Don't be foolish. That Wang Feng is the son of the Red Gold Sword King's first seat! Think about it, if you kill him here, how will you explain to the Red Gold Sword King? How will you explain to our master? How will you explain to the Shu Mountain elder? And if you kill him, today's matter will definitely spread everywhere, and then how will the Jianghu comment on us Shu Mountain swordsmen? The thousand-year reputation of Shu Mountain will be ruined in an instant! At that time, you will be the sinner of Shu Mountain for eternity!"

  That junior brother is not a brainless person, and as soon as he heard his senior brother's words, the terrible scene immediately appeared in his mind. As long as millions of people hear the name of Shu Mountain, their eyes will no longer be filled with admiration, but with naked contempt. Even the son of the first seat is of such virtue, how can the other disciples of Shu Mountain be any better?

  That's a dirty and corrupt place!

  "But..."

  His junior brother took another look at Tang An, who was lying on the ground. Tang An's face was deathly pale, and although he had fainted, his fists were still tightly clenched, with his fingernails digging deep into his flesh!

  "For the sake of Mount Shu's thousand-year reputation, how could he be so unjust?"

  Although it's hard to bear, the younger brother's tone has calmed down a lot. However, going against one's conscience is not something that can be done with a clear head. He could only ask in a low voice: "For the sake of Shu Mountain's reputation, we protected Wang Feng. Although I'm unhappy about it, I'll grit my teeth and try to forget about it. But what about this disciple? He was poisoned and his internal energy was crippled. From now on, his cultivation will be even more difficult. What should we do with him?"

  That senior brother suddenly fell silent.

  "We can't just let the eldest son of Mount Shu abolish the martial arts of ordinary disciples, and then kill people to silence them for fear that others will speak out the truth?"

  His junior brother looked at his senior brother's uncertain eyes and suddenly burst out a killing intent in the gaze towards Tang An, instantly becoming extremely tense.

  "Compromising and concealing the truth has already betrayed the righteous indignation in my heart. If we continue to coerce this outer sect disciple, our Shu Mountain will truly become a den of villainy!"

  Fortunately, the senior brother did not say anything about killing to silence. He just said: "This matter is of great importance, and we two are low-ranking and our words carry little weight. This examination should be handled by Senior Brother Cangfeng, let's ask him to make a decision."

  The younger brother had no choice but to nod. The two of them each carried one person and flew quickly towards the top of Shu Mountain. As for the matter of entering the inner gate, it was already none of our concern.

  …………

  Mount Shu's peak, Wan Jian Hall

  Wanjiantang is a crucial location in Shushan, and the vast majority of inner disciples cannot enter it without a good reason. Those who walk within this hall are all core disciples carefully nurtured by Shushan. Throughout the entire Shushan Sword Sect, there are countless outer disciples and several hundred inner disciples, but only over ten people can reside in Wanjiantang.

  To enter the Wan Jian Tang, for inner disciples, there is only one condition: to cultivate to the sixth level of Tian Ren, where internal energy is like water, and a protective aura is emitted from the body, becoming a top-notch Tian Jing master in the Jianghu.

  Although this condition is easy to say, it's as difficult to achieve as climbing to the sky!

  Inside the Wan Jian Hall, Mount Shu's leader Li Chengfeng wore a white Taoist robe and sat upright in the central Taishi chair. In front of him, two inner disciples knelt trembling, who were responsible for Tang An and Wang Feng's duel.

  The two of them said everything and carefully handed over the silver needle found beside Tang An, then knelt down, not even daring to raise their heads.

  Although it's extremely cold in winter now, they're sweating profusely as if they're boiling.

  Cang Feng is the most beloved disciple of Mount Shu's leader, Li Chengfeng, and also the most prestigious successor to the leadership. He is a man of honor, and his travels in Jianghu have earned him friends all over the world. Whoever mentions Mount Shu's "Ruyi Sword" can't help but give a thumbs up, praising him as "good character, good looks, and good demeanor!"

  Moreover, Cang Feng had always been extremely lenient towards his fellow disciples, but now he stood behind Li Chengfeng with a gloomy face.

  "Are you two telling the truth? If you're wrong by even a single word or half a sentence, do you know what the consequences will be?"

  Cang Feng's tone was extremely cold, and it could be seen that his mood was very bad. Shu Mountain holds such an internal selection assessment twice a year, but for twenty years, nothing has happened, yet when it came to himself as the person in charge, this kind of thing happened, and it even involved the seven major heads of Shu Mountain. Anyone would have a bad mood if they were in his shoes.

  Moreover, the relationship between the leaders of Shu Mountain is not as friendly as outsiders imagine!

  Shu Shan Jian Pai was originally not a sect in the true sense. The seven peaks of Shu Shan were also just nominal brothers.

  Shu Shan Sword Sect was originally just a loose alliance, but later when everyone went out to travel the world, they all referred to themselves as Shu Shan and practiced swordsmanship. Over time, the various sects exchanged ideas more frequently, their sense of identity with each other grew stronger, and eventually, the first generation leader, Shu Shan Chang Mei Zhen Ren, unified the various Shu Shan sects.

  Actually, each sect has its own lineage and cultivates its own sword classics. Except for the once-in-a-decade Gate Master election, usually the several sects are completely unrelated to each other.

  But today, things involved one of the eldest son's sons, and if this is not handled properly, it will be a big trouble.

  Those two inner disciples knelt on the ground, constantly kowtowing and swearing: "The disciples dare not utter a single lie, every word the two of us say is true. If there's even one sentence that doesn't match, the two of us will be struck by lightning and die without a place to bury our bodies! Tang An was indeed attacked by Wang Feng with the Bi Lin silver needle and lost all his internal energy. He is currently in the outer hall, being guarded by Brother Wang. If Master doesn't believe it, he can personally go check."

  Li Chengfeng raised his head, glanced at Cang Feng, and Cang Feng immediately understood. He walked outside, felt Tang An's pulse with his hand, and transmitted a stream of internal energy into him to examine his body. After a moment, he shook his head, and his face turned even darker.

  Cang Feng walked to Li Chengfeng's side, lowered his body and whispered: "Master, that Tang An indeed lost all the internal energy in his body due to poisoning. And according to the efficacy of Bixian snake venom, the only person who poisoned him is Wang Feng, others simply didn't have the opportunity!"

  Li Chengfeng's eyes suddenly burst out with a fierce light, and his hands grasped the armrests of the chair, unconsciously using too much force. "Crack" - the armrest was ripped off by him.

  The two disciples below heard the voice, and their heads hung even lower, and they were even more frightened in their hearts. They had thought of killing Tang An to silence him before, how could they not have thought that if the Grandmaster also had the same idea as themselves, then the two of them would truly have no place to appeal even if they were wrongly accused.

  "Doesn't anyone else know about this?"

  Cang Feng's voice was cold and serious as he asked, his tone uncharacteristically stern. Not only was he the elegant and refined Ruyi Sword, always wearing a smile for the world to see, but he was also the eldest disciple of Mount Shu! At this moment, protecting the reputation of Mount Shu was the top priority for him!

  "No! After the disciples return, they will absolutely keep this matter in their stomachs and won't mention a single word to anyone else!" The two disciples below immediately made a poisonous oath.

  To be honest, Cang Feng was extremely angry at this moment, and he wished to chop Wang Feng into pieces. However, he knew that he couldn't do it. If he killed Wang Feng, Shu Shan might fall into internal strife. But if he didn't kill Wang Feng, could he justify the sacrifice of Tang An who was lying outside on his deathbed? On one hand, there was the thousand-year foundation of Shu Shan; on the other hand, there was the justice that he held in his heart. He couldn't make a decision, so he could only look to his master for guidance.

  "Master, look..."

  Li Chengfeng's face sank like water, and he waved his hand at the two people below with a look of annoyance. The two people below saw this movement and suddenly felt a sigh of relief in their hearts, and the half-day's worry finally came down. They heavily knocked three loud heads, and immediately bowed out of the door.

  "Hold back your sword, Shu Mountain is no longer the same as before..."

  Li Chengfeng let out a sigh and slowly stood up, his Taoist robe was the same one he wore when Cang Feng first met him, and his appearance hadn't changed much. For over twenty years, in Cang Feng's heart, he was still that good master, good sect leader who wholeheartedly thought for his disciples, for Mount Shu.

  Has Mount Shu changed?

  Cang Feng doesn't know.

  He has been in Shu Mountain for almost 30 years. At that time, he always thought that Shu Mountain was the most beautiful place under heaven, especially at sunset. The sky was painted with a layer of dreamy purple color. But he didn't know when he started to lose his mood to appreciate this beauty.

  Li Chengfeng continued, "I don't have time to bother with that nonsense anymore. Thirty years are almost up, this is my last chance... From tomorrow on, the matters of Shu Mountain will be handed over to you. Do as you please!"

  Li Chengfeng finished speaking and simply patted Cang Feng's shoulder before slowly entering the inner courtyard.

  Cang Feng watched as his master slowly walked away, shaking his head slightly and muttering to himself: "Master, the burden you've left me with is too heavy, I don't know if I can bear it... A thousand-year-old sect, this reputation has dragged everyone down..."

  Thinking of this, Cang Feng let out a sigh and looked towards Tang An outside the hall, shaking his head slightly.